The new school year is the time for a new beginning. For that fresh start, I wanted to share my view on the priorities for career services leaders.

Any current statement of leadership priorities in career services has to borrow extensively from two excellent articles on the future of the profession—”Thriving in the Brave New World of Career Services: 10 Essential Strategies” by Manny Contomanolis and Trudy Steinfeld and “10 Future Trends in College Career Services” by Farouk Dey and Christine Y. Cruzvergara.

Career services, as a profession, is in a state of flux. The long term stagnant economy brought the work of career services to the forefront among college administrators, parents, and other stakeholders. There has also been a significant paradigm shift within the profession. While many balked at the word “placement” just a few years ago, it is now accepted that “career outcomes is everybody’s business” (Contomanolis and Steinfeld, 2014).

Demonstrating career outcomes and career services’ role in producing those outcomes is fundamental. Collecting and producing a solid first-destinations report based on the NACE standards is a crucial means to allow career services to tell its story and, in a larger sense, demonstrate institutional success (Dey and Cruzvergara, 2014).

The role of career services must be “elevated” (Dey and Cruzvergara, 2014), so it becomes clear that career services is part and parcel of the mission of the university. Career services leaders are collaborative in attaining that goal, thus creating allies and “buy in” across the institution, especially among senior administrators (Contomanolis and Steinfeld, 2014).

Career services leaders must remain flexible, adapt to rapidly changing realities, and take “thoughtful risks” that lead to innovation and bold new initiatives (Contomanolis and Steinfeld, 2014). They embrace technology (Dey and Cruzvergara, 2014) and seek to incorporate it everywhere it can enhance their services.

Even with the radical changes in career services and the new priorities competing for a professional’s time, it is imperative that an adviser still focus on the students. Career services leaders believe that every student has infinite potential and endeavor to encourage each student to be proactive in achieving it to their fullest, both in the career services realm and beyond.

Times of change are really times of opportunity. True leaders refuse to sit on the sidelines while the career services world reinvents itself. One of the greatest ways to “elevate” career services, demonstrate its foundational value to our institutions, and provide more effective services to students is by being an active part in charting the profession’s future.